Ive had to take a break after my son was born, but I finally finished my head and footboards to my bed. I thought these two boards were very unique and wanted to do something with them for some time. When my bed broke, the idea came to me to make a rustic bed out of these bookmatched pieces. No special joinery involved, but still a good looking piece if you ask me. I love the natural colors and the knot. Its finished in linseed oil and wipe on poly. Hope you like it! It wasnt a hard project really, just one made from necessity.

I learned a little from my first box call, and developed this one after. I cut four 1/8” wide grooves 1/16” deep down each side to improve sound. I also milled one side just a tad thinner to make each side produce a different sound. It has walnut end blocks, and is a 7” call. The other one I made was 6”. Its a little late to call a big tom tonight…so we will give it a try tomorrow and tune it from there. These things are so much fun to make. Once I get a good design down that produces a great call, I want to work on some custom inlays to pretty them up a little. Lots of people hunt turkey here, and after I posted a few pics on facebook, many of my friends have expressed interest. Ive seen some of these that look so good I wouldn’t take them out in the woods.

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Sun, 24 Mar 2013 03:48:30 GMThttp://lumberjocks.com/projects/81644trippcaseytrippcaseyMy First Box Turkey Call, Just in Time for the Season!http://lumberjocks.com/projects/81613

I made this from walnut. It took a little tuning, but I’ll be darned if it didnt sound great after some additional paddle sanding and tuning the box a little. I had a couple avid turkey hunters come by and check it out today, and both want one now. Im gonna try poplar next.

This is my first project using a mortise and tenon joint. I used spalted poplar and made through mortise and tenons on the runner. I consider it finished, just waiting on the glue to dry. I love the natural beauty of the wood. I also hand planed all of the wood, using my vintage Stanley #5 and #220. For a small table, I have a lot of man hours invested, including making a tenon jig that I need to tweak. Not bad though…for a blind squirrel. I learned a lot about the use of hand tools; files planes, and my dove tail and flush cut saw. I learned a lot about the need for precision, and patience. The last two are my biggest problems, especially having struggled with ADHD all of my life. It is very satisfying to see a finished project instead of many half done projects.

I made this a few months ago using some old fence slats from an old bed and breakfast in my hometown. The house now belongs to my inlaws. There is no technical joinery, but the wood itself gorgeous! I got the door knob and plate from the house as well. This is my favorite thing I have made so far. It has a history behind it, and the fence itself was over a century old before we took it down. There is no telling how old the wood itself is. This in itself is a testament to how durable and resistant cypress, and not to mention beautiful. I lightly sanded off the natural grey patina, and put three coats of semi-gloss poly. I was amazed at how it turned out. The box attached is cypress also, but not near as old and all I could find that almost matched. Im itching to cut down one of my cypress trees now and drag it to my buddies saw mill.

I made this from pallet wood as well, and bought a piece of 1” poplar dial which I used to “pin” it together with. I gently routed the top and bottom piece with a cove bit real shallow. Photography is the whole reason I began to mess with wood, and WAS my first hobby. Now I cant get out of my makeshift woodshop to take pictures! All I want to do is make sawdust.

Here is the first table I have ever built. Its nice…but I dont like the top being screwed down. My wife likes the chrome screws on the top, and says it gives it a rustic/industrial look. If she is happy, then I am happy. I hope to get better, but this is my first completed project other than a picture frame. Ill share those later. It is all reclaimed pallet wood that I sanded down and stained to one color. I love the lines and the weathered look. Im proud….I actually finished something without my ADD taking over!! I love this hobby, and want to get at it more and more each day. Just wish there was more time.

This is the first jig I have ever made. I saw something similar on youtube, and decided to try it out. The back, and main part of the jig is red oak. I drilled several holes in it to be able to clamp wood snugly depending on the length, and used some scrap pine for the front of the clamp with two 3” bolts. I glued a piece of 3/8” square poplar dowel in a slot cut on the bottom of the oak, and cut a notch 3/8” wide the same length away from the dowel. I use the rest of the dowel as a spacer so you can cut two boards at once and offset them properly so they fit together. So when I make my first cut, I just slide the stock over the dowel and cut again, repeating the process through the stock. The joints in the pic are a little proud, but they fit together nicely. I feel good about using this jig on something other than plywood now that I have seen what I can do with it.